Hospital, St. Clair Hospital. The book contains a vast amount of practical information, it is written in a very happy way, and closely holds the attention of the reader. The entire series of Recreation books would make a welcome addition to the library of the doctor. They would rest and please him, taking him for a time away from the monotony of professional life. AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF HOMEOPATHY. Transactions of the Fifty- The most noteworthy item concerning this volume is that it contains for the first time the transactions of all of the sectional societies 'affiliated with the Institute, except the O. O. & L. Were this latter Society to have its transactions included, we would say this is as it should be. There is no reason why the O. O. & L. should hold itself aloof, that is to say-there is no reason that is entitled to serious consideration. We are hoping, and we believe it is the hope of many prominent members of the O. O. & L., that the opposition of two or three members who have seemed to control-in a measure-the action of this Society, shall be overcome at the ensuing session and that the volume of Institute Transactions for 1904 may contain a report of all of the work done by the societies of our school. Without desiring in the least to be hypercritical, we call attention to the fact that the very excellent and thorough report of Dr. Thomas Franklin Smith, as chairman of the Committee on Organization, Registration and Statistics, occupies sixty pages. While this seems to have been condensed to a considerable degree, at the same time it looks as though it should, in our estimation, be still more condensed to possibly half of the space occupied. The appendix, which occupies 120 pages, can certainly be condensed. As we have once before stated, it is not necessary to make separate records of the street addresses of the members of the Institute. The street addresses should be in the alphabetical register of membership only, and this would reduce the space occupied nearly thirty pages. With these alterations there would be no difficulty in including the reports of the O. O. & L. Society and still keep the Transactions down in size to less than 1,000 pages. The illustrations drawn by the authors are an interesting and valuable addition to the work. We heartily commend this and urge its continuance in future volumes. It is our hope that the subject matter reported, the discussions, etc., may meet with the commendation and endorsement of the members of the Institute. The Medical and Surgical Reporter. Contributions are solicited upon any subject connected with the practice of medicine or the allied sciences, and the only restrictions placed upon them are that they shall be free from personalities and given to the REPORTER exclusively. The Editor of the REPORTER is not responsible for any opinion expressed by contributors. Vol. XII. MAY, 1904. Original Articles. "OUR CRIPPLED AND DEFORMED CHILDREN."* By Dr. C. E. Sawyer, Marion, Ohio. No. 5. For the past year and a half there has been a special effort made to obtain State aid for the crippled and deformed children of Ohio. That you may be more familiar with the progress of the work, I take the liberty of reading the findings and recommendations of the Commission appointed by Gov. Nash to report on the necessity, feasibility and desirability of the State taking up the charitable work of providing an institution for the care, treatment and education of crippled and deformed children. This report is self-explanatory and shows the difficulties encountered, and the results obtained, regardless of all difficulties the investigation proved beyond question to the Commission that Ohio had many cases of this kind which were deserving care and attention they were not getting, and as the recommendation of the Commission shows, they are unanimously in favor of a complete modern and thoroughly equipped institution for the care, treatment and education of the indigent crippled and deformed. As the report is brief and to the point I take the liberty of presenting it in full. REPORT. TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE K. NASH, Governor of Ohio: DEAR SIR-The Commission appointed by you in January, 1903, in compliance with the provisions of an Act passed by the General Assembly in special session in October; 1902, "to report upon the necessity, feasibility and desirability of the State caring for, treating, and educating crippled and deformed children," respectfully presents the following: Organization.-Having duly qualified according to law, all the * Read before the Ohio State Society, Columbus, Ohio. May 10th, 1904. members of the Commission met in the Governor's office at the State House on the 16th day of January, 1903, and organized by electing the Rev. John Hewitt, President, and Dr. E. C. Brush, Secretary. After brief discussion an agreement was easily reached as to the purpose of the Act of the General Assembly and the duties devolving upon the Commission in carrying out the same. The President and Secretary were then appointed a committee to secure information as to (a) the number of crippled and deformed children in the State under the age of eighteen years; (b) how many of such children are able and how many are not able to attend school; and (c) what has been the experience of other States in the establishment of institutions for crippled and deformed children. Methods. The following methods were adopted for securing this desired information: 1. Through the office of the Commissioner of Public Schools, two blank forms for returns were issued to the County Auditors throughout the State-one for each Auditor and one for each school enumerator. 2. A circular letter was addressed to about eight thousand five hundred (8,500) physicians and surgeons; also to three thousand (3,000) clergymen, and one thousand three hundred (1,300) newspapers. 3. Correspondence was opened with County and State eleemosynary institutions, asking for the names of crippled and deformed children cared for by them, as well as for an expression of opinion as to the necessity of establishing an institution for their care. 4. Correspondence was also opened with existing institutions for the care of crippled and deformed children in other States-namely, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York. 5. Finally, the President of the Commission met and conferred with the Superintendent of the Minnesota institution, and afterwards visited in person the Massachusetts State institution, at Baldwinville, Massachusetts; the Boston City institution; the New York State Hospital at Tarrytown, and a private institution in New York City. Results of our Investigations.-It has been apparent from the first, that it would be quite impossible to secure a full registration and description of the crippled and deformed children in the State. The Census Department at Washington has not been able to successfully collect such statistics, and similar efforts in other States have been unsatisfactory to a degree. To whatever cause or causes this may be attributed, whether to the very general tendency of parents and physicians to withhold information, or the indifference of enumerators, the fact remains that we have been able to locate less than half of these children. This assertion is based mainly on the apparently full returns received from Cuyahoga County, which we have used as a basis for estimate. As a result of the various efforts of the Commission to collect statistics, we find ourselves in possession of the names and addresses of one thousand and seven (1,007) children, reported from seventy-nine (79) counties. No returns whatever were received from Ashland, Athens, Carroll, Mercer, Morrow, Noble, Union, Wayne and Wyandot Counties. How complete the returns were is seen by a comparison of counties of the same approximate population. In Cuyahoga County, the county that seems to have made the fullest, yet we feel satisfied far from complete report, we have the names of three hundred and thirty-six (336) children; while from Hamilton County we have received but thirty (30). Not a single child was reported from Ashland, Mercer, Union and Wyandot Counties, while from Clinton and Warren Counties, with the same approximate population, there were reported eighteen (18) and ten (10) respectively. The members of the Commission are agreed, from all information and evidence at hand, that in every instance the cases reported are far below the actual number in the State. It is a matter worthy of note that although physicians, ministers, school superintendents, institution officials and citizens generally were requested personally, and through the press, to send to the Commission names of all crippled and deformed children known to them, that out of the one thousand and seven (1,007) names so reported from these divers sources, only fifty-one (51) were duplicates; that is to say that only fifty-one (51) children were reported by two persons. This, in the mind of the Commission, confirms the estimate we make, based on the returns from Cuyahoga County; that there are in Ohio, not less than three thousand one hundred and sixty (3,160) crippled and deformed children. While our inability to secure more definite returns is cause for regret, it was to be expected in view of the remarkable indifference shown so generally by physicians, ministers and county officials. Out of the eight thousand five hundred (8,500) blanks sent to physicians and surgeons, the number returned was but two hundred and twentynine (229); out of the three thousand (3,000) sent to ministers of all denominations, only forty-six (46) were returned. Only twenty-eight (28) replies were received from school superintendents and principals. Only nine (9) out of eighty-eight (88) infirmaries reported, and only twenty-five (25) children's homes out of fifty (50). Miscellaneous replies, made largely through the publicity given the work of the Commission by the press, were received from one hundred and thirty-eight (138) individuals. The returns made by the County Auditors through the State School Commissioner, though in some respects less satisfactory than others received, furnish valuable data and, so far as they go, reliable statistics upon which we believe definite conclusions may be safely reached. Partial reports were received from only thirty-six (36) auditors. They show a total of five hundred and ninety-one (591) children, two hundred and fifty (250) of whom are unable to attend school on account of their physical condition. These and other returns have been tabulated, and appear as part of our report. We believe our first estimate of three thousand one hundred and sixty (3,160) crippled and deformed children in Ohio, based on returns from Cuyahoga County, is conservative and well below the actual figures. But it may be claimed that conditions in Cuyahoga County are abnormal; that the very large proportion of the foreign population in the city of Cleveland, ignorant and indifferent alike to rules of health and sanitary regulations, contributes a disproportionate number of these children; and that it is not safe to base an estimate for the State on this one county. That this is true to an extent worthy of notice, we do not accept. In order, however, that we may not appear to magnify to the people of Ohio the importance and extent of the conditions given us for investigation, we have made a second estimate, based on the reports made by the thirty-six (36) County Auditors. Cuyahoga County not being of the number. The counties. are Ashtabula, Athens, Belmont, Butler, Carroll, Clark, Clinton, Defiance, Erie, Fairfield, Franklin, Fulton, Gallia, Hamilton, Hocking, Lake, Lucas, Madison, Medina, Mercer, Miami, Monroe, Morrow, Noble, Ottawa, Pike, Putnam, Richland, Ross, Seneca, Trumbull, Van Wert, Vinton, Warren and Williams. The population of the foregoing counties was, in 1900, one million eight hundred and nineteen thousand two hundred and sixty (1,819,260). We feel safe in assuming that the class of children whose care we are considering, are evenly distributed in our general population, and that the whole number in the State bears the same relation to the whole population as does the number reported by these thirty-six (36) counties to the population of the same counties. This being true, we have in the State based on these partial reports, one thousand three hundred and fifty-one ( 1,351) children under eighteen (18) years of age, of whom five hundred and seventy-one (571) are not able to attend |